Betrayal Of The Worst Kind
by The Passionate Admiral
Summary: My 9th CATS fanfic. Two pairs of young lovers in the Jellicle Tribe have recently separated. Now, they all plan to get back at their former mates by the use of emotional torture.
1. Honesty Fails

Betrayal Of The Worst Kind

Author: The Passionate Admiral

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own CATS. But it would be f*cking awesome if I did.

Plot: I myself am a huge fan of Quaxo/Victoria and Plato/Electra. However, in virtually all versions of the musical, Victoria performs the Mating Dance with Plato. In most versions of the play, when everyone pairs up, Quaxo mates with Electra. All that being said, I developed a theory as to why this happens (as opposed to what I would prefer to happen).

Electra stood waiting on the TSE-1. Her mate, Plato, was late for their rendezvous once again. Normally, Electra did not mind him being late. But this was the fourth time that week. She was beginning to grow impatient.

Electra had noticed that Plato tended to arrive later than they normally agreed upon. Ever since they had gotten together, punctuality had been one of his main problems. Electra managed to put up with it for a while, but now she was becoming very annoyed. She decided to confront Plato that very night when (or if) he arrived.

Plato did arrive at their rendezvous eventually, but he was over twenty minutes late. When he finally arrived, he said "I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Electra-"

"No, you're not," she interrupted in a cold voice.

"Yes, I am," he said in a calm voice.

"No, you're not," she repeated, "If you were really sorry, you'd stop doing it. We agreed seven o'clock sharp."

"So I'm a few minutes late," Plato shrugged lightheartedly, "It's not like a disaster is going to strike!"

"I wouldn't call twenty minutes 'a few,'" Electra remarked, "What were you doing in that time?"

"I was talking with Munkustrap about reorganizing my patrol shifts," he answered.

"That's what you told me last time," she stated.

"I wasn't satisfied with the results of my last meeting with him," he clarified.

"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically, "That's probably what you'll say next time."

"There won't be a next time," he assured her, "I promise you I'll arrive on time."

"Plato, a week ago, I would have believed you," Electra told her mate, "But you promised me more than once that you would not be late for our rendezvouses. You failed to keep that promise."

"I won't forget this time!"

How can I trust you?"

"Just give me a chance, and I'll show you that you can!" he pleaded.

"No, that's not what I mean," she stated, "When I ask you if I can trust you, I'm not questioning your ability to arrive at our rendezvouses on time; I'm questioning how seriously you are taking our relationship."

At those words, Plato's eyes shot up in surprise. He glared down at Electra and asked her angrily "Are you accusing me of being unfaithful?"

"Well, based on the current circumstances, I believe I have sufficient reason to do just that!" she replied.

"You're a bloody one to talk!" he retorted.

Electra stared at Plato for a moment and uttered quietly "What does that mean?"

"You don't think I've noticed how you behave around Rum Tum Tugger?" he asked rhetorically.

"Plato, I'm just a member of his fanclub!" Electra insisted.

"That may be true, Electra," he practically shouted, "But I've seen the way you look at him. On a few occasions, I could have sworn I saw lust in your eyes! I've never seen anything even resembling lust when you're alone with me!"

"Now you're just being ridiculous," she claimed, "Tugger's too old for me, anyway."

Plato smirked and said "You must think I'm stupid if you expect me to believe that. If there is one of us who is being unfaithful, it's undeniably you! Not me; you!"

"Take that back," she demanded.

"I will not!" he yelled, "Admit it; the only unfaithful one in any relationship in this Tribe is a certain tortoiseshell who can very easily overreact by the smallest -"

Electra slapped Plato across the face before he could finish. He did not even flinch. He stood there, staring at her through his anger-laced eyes.

Finally, she broke the silence: "You are right about one thing."

"What might that be?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"There won't be a next time," she referred to his previous statement, "Because we're through!"

Normally, Plato would have been devastated to hear Electra say that. But he just brought a wide smirk onto his face and said "That's fine by me. I couldn't care less."

"How typical of you," she sneered.

"Don't come crawling back to me," he warned her.

Plato turned around, jumped off the TSE-1, and angrily stormed out of the clearing. He didn't look over his shoulders once.

Electra was left alone on the car's trunk. She sat down in silence for a few moments. Then her eyes started welling up with tears of sorrow.

Note: Sorry for how short this chapter was! The next one will be longer!


	2. Wrath Starts To Sink In

At that same time, Quaxo Mistoffelees was hanging out with his friends Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. The two knockabout cats were competing to see who could do a better backflip. Quaxo was not so good at backflips, but he was regarded as the best male dancer in the tribe.

Quaxo's mate Victoria was sitting on top of a pile of junk, watching him. She was thinking about approaching the group, but decided to wait and see if Quaxo would come to her first.

Victoria was not very pleased with Quaxo. Recently, he had been spending much more time with his friends than with her.

At one point, Quaxo happened to look up and see her. He noticed that was frowning.

He told Pouncival and Tumblebrutus "I'll be right back" and turned back to the pile of junk. He carefully climbed to the top of it and came face-to-face with Victoria. She was still frowning at him.

"What's wrong, Vicky?" Quaxo asked her in concern.

"Gosh, I don't know, Quaxo," she remarked sarcastically, "Maybe it's because I've been spending a lot of my time alone."

"Sorry to hear that," he told her honestly, "I thought Jemima, Etcetera, Electra, and Rumpleteazer spend a lot of time with you."

"They do, but you rarely spend any time with me at all!" she pointed out with a note a fury in her voice "That's what mates do; spend time with each other."

"Vicky, why didn't you just tell me?" he queried.

"You must be kidding me," she scowled at him, "This is one of those things you should innately know when you become mates with someone."

"Actually, I've noticed that it varies with the individual," he commented, "Besides, you should know we're not really mates. We're too young. We just call ourselves mates the way Plato and Electra do."

"So are you entailing that you don't want to be in a relationship with me?" she assumed.

"No, of course not!" he insisted, "What's up with you today? You're overreacting over a simple little thing."

"I have good reason to," she shot, "You seem uninterested in being 'mates' with me."

Quaxo was really starting to become impatient with Victoria's attitude. Both of them were on the verge of adulthood, but she was arguing like a stubborn kitten. He could not believe how she could behave so immaturely around him. He responded "At least I don't go talking about you behind your back!"

Victoria was shocked by those words. "What are you implying?" she asked.

"Did it occur to you that there may be a **reason **as to why I'm not spending a lot of time with you?" he asked rhetorically, "Jemima told me that you thought it was funny when Tugger said that coat makes me look gay when it sparkles!"

"I only thought it was funny at the time!" said Victoria, "I don't actually believe that!"

"But you laughed!" Quaxo retorted, "That's the main problem. In addition to that, Admetus also told me that you also laughed when Tugger said 'When Quaxo's in Mistoffelees form, his tail is really short. But I'll be it's not the shortest thing that hangs around his ass!'"

"I only laughed for a moment, Quaxo!" Victoria shouted.

"Well, Admetus also mentioned that you made up a few jokes of your own," said Quaxo.

"That's not true!"

"I've never known Admetus to lie to me. Right now, I'm beginning to wonder if I can say the same thing about you."

"Okay, I did make up a few jokes about you on my own," she admitted, "But I didn't mean any of them! I was just trying to be funny."

"Victoria, I do not find any humor in that at all," he responded, "Those kinds of comments are very hurtful. I view it as mockery and contempt for my magical abilities."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" she inquired.

"Because I thought you would be a little more sensitive," he replied, "I don't mind if other people think it's funny, but I hate it when my friends tell me that my own mate is gossiping about me."

He paused for a moment, and then added "I thought you would understand my feelings on your own. Evidently, I was wrong about you."

"So that's why you've been avoiding me?" she guessed.

"Correct," he sneered, "In fact, I think we should keep it that way for a while."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I think we should stop seeing each other for a while," he suggested, "When you become a little more sensitive and I learn how to manage my time better, then we can repair our relationship. But until then, we should probably leave each other alone."

Victoria was shocked to hear that suggestion. But Quaxo was obviously not in the mood to argue with her anymore.

She said indifferently: "Alright. If you think it's what must be done."

"I'm sorry, Vicky," he said gently, "But I think it's what's best for both of us."

Quaxo turned around and climbed back down the junk pile to meet up with Pouncival and Tumblebrutus on the ground. However, he did not speak a word to them. The two knockabout cats quickly noticed that their friend seemed to be depressed. They decided to investigate.

"Is something wrong, Quaxo?" asked Tumblebrutus.

"Victoria and I are having relationship issues," he answered.

"You broke up?" assumed Pouncival.

"Virtually," Quaxo nodded his head, "Just a few weeks before the Jellicle Ball, too!"

"That sucks," commented Tumble. Seeing the exasperated expression on Quaxo's face, he added "But you have our sympathy."

Pounce nodded in agreement with his brother.

"Thanks," Quaxo sighed, "It's a shame, really. The year we all come of age, Victoria's the one who performs the full mating dance. Now, unless we can reconcile within the next two weeks – which is highly unlikely – someone other than me will have to be her partner."

"Can't she just refuse to undergo the mating dance?" inquired Pouncival.

"No, she can't." Quaxo answered, "It's tradition; every year, the queen who comes of age nearest to to the Jellicle Ball must perform the full mating dance."

"Well, I hope you can set everything right in time," said Tumblebrutus.

"I don't," Quaxo stated, "I wouldn't want to perform the tribe's most intimate ritual with someone who gossips about me remorselessly."

"I think you and Victoria are great for each other," Pouncival told his friend, "You just have a few differences that need to be resolved."

"We'll worry about that later," said Quaxo, "For now, let's just not think about queens in general."

Tumblebrutus and Pouncival looked at each other and shrugged.

"If you insist," Pounce agreed.

…

The next day, Victoria was walking through the junkyard clearing. She was still trying to hold back her anger. She had two objectives on her mind: teach Quaxo a lesson and resolve the new problem regarding the mating dance.

The second one was arguably more important, but Victoria was extremely upset with Quaxo. She actually wanted to hurt him. Not physically, but emotionally. But she could not think of anything at the time.

Soon she ran into Plato. They almost walked directly into each other.

"Plato, would you mind watching your step?" she asked, obviously irritated.

"Sorry, Victoria," he told her, "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" she asked.

Plato could tell that she was not really all that interested, but decided to answer her anyway. He believed that talking to someone about his problems would ease his tension. He answered "Electra and I just broke up."

"Really?" Victoria was surprised to hear that. She remarked "Small world. Quaxo and I just did, too."

"Sorry to hear that," he told her, "What happened?"

"Recently, he seemed to be avoiding me," she explained, "I went to confront him to find out why. He accused me of gossiping about him behind his back."

"Gossiping?" said Plato "What do you mean?"

"You remember when Tugger was telling all those jokes about him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Admetus told Quaxo that I joined in with Tugger," she said, "Quaxo told me that he didn't want a mate that would talk about him that way behind his back."

"I can somewhat relate to your problem," Plato revealed.

"In what way?" Victoria queried.

"My problem has something to do with Tugger, as well," he elucidated, "Last night, I went to meet Electra at our rendezvous. She complained because I was over twenty minutes late. I tried to explain, but she accused me of being unfaithful to her. I started to lose my patience, and I subsequently brought up how she worships Tugger and treats me like crap in comparison."

"Etcetera may be Tugger's biggest fan," Victoria commented, "but Electra is a close second. What happened next?"

"I started to lose my temper and yell at her," Plato recounted, "So she slapped me and told me 'we're through.' So I marched out of the clearing without looking back."

Victoria asked "Where exactly did she slap you?"

He placed his paw on the middle of his left cheek and told her "Right here."

She slowly raised her paw up to his cheek and placed it there. "I hope you're alright."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine," he assured her, "But I want to get back at Electra. After all, it's really her fault we broke up in the first place."

"I know how you feel," she told him, "I find myself wanting to get back at Quaxo as well. However, I have another problem of my own that arguably has greater precedence."

"What's that?" he inquired.

"I need a new partner for the Mating Dance," Victoria answered, "There's no way I'm going to do it with him now."

"Well, that's another problem we have in common," Plato pointed out, "I'm finding myself without a partner as well."

The two of them stood contemplating in silence. But soon, both of them came up with the same idea. She looked up to him and he looked down at her.

Plato cleared his throat and offered "Perhaps… I could be your partner?"

Secretly, both of them had always liked each other. Not just as friends, however. They both had a latent attraction to each other that was slowly starting to resurface.

Victoria saw the logic in Plato's offer. If the two of them performed the mating dance together, she could uphold the Jellicle Tribe's tradition and get back at Quaxo simultaneously.

She grinned wickedly and replied "That would be great."

He also grinned wickedly and told her "We'll call it a date."


	3. It Backfires

Note: Sorry for not updating this for over a month. This was meant to be a short fanfic completed in a few days. But then certain things came up, and on August 16th, I moved into my dorm at college. I've been preoccupied spending a few weeks with my family and then doing college work. In terms of my work on this site, I've mostly been working on another of my CATS fanfics, entitled "The Boatswain," but now, I decided to take the time to finish this fanfic. So, enjoy!

By the next morning, the word had already gone around that Plato and Victoria would be performing the Mating Dance together at the Jellicle Ball. Several people were gossiping about it.

Quaxo was one of the few who were not. He was enraged when he heard this. If he was a lesser tom, his magic could have corrupted him. But he was trained not to let his feelings mix with his magical abilities.

All he did was mope for a while. For an entire week, he spied on Plato and Victoria together. He could just **tell **that they were trying to make him angry and jealous. Their plan was working, but he was not about to give them the satisfaction of knowing that.

He was not the only one who was spying on the two of them, however. One morning, Victoria and Plato were talking together in the clearing on top of the oven. Quaxo watched them from the top of the pile with the rocking chair perched at the top.

His focus was on them for a while, but soon, he noticed that there was another person in the clearing.

Electra was sitting inside the pipe that was lodged underneath the makeshift door that Rum Tum Tugger used to enter the junkyard. Quaxo spotted her before much time had passed. He was quickly able to determine that she was spying on Plato and Victoria, too.

He could imagine what sorrow she was probably experiencing at the time, and he could understand it, as he was going through the same thing.

Quaxo wanted to comfort his friend. At least Electra was someone he could talk to. So he quietly climbed down the pile of junk and made his way across the clearing unnoticed by his former lover.

He stopped right by the pipe and sat down next to Electra. She did not even seem to notice him at first.

He said to her "I take it you're as upset as I am?"

"Perhaps even more," she commented, keeping her eyes focused on Plato and Victoria.

"What's your story?" he asked.

"Oh, we got into a bit of a fight," she told him, "I guess I'm the one that started it. I was criticizing Plato for being unpunctual all the time and I questioned his faithfulness in our relationship."

She paused for a moment, and then continued: "That was what really set him off. He responded by accusing **me** of being unfaithful in our relationship. With Tugger, no less!"

"Tugger?" Quaxo was sure he misheard her. Sure, Plato could make some outrageous statements every now and then, but to accuse his own lover of cheating on him with the Rum Tum Tugger… to Quaxo that seemed almost unforgivable!

"Well, at least he doesn't go talking about you behind your back," Quaxo stated, "That's why I broke up with Victoria. She and Tugger were making jokes about me. Really cruel jokes about my magical side."

"Oh, Quaxo, that's horrible." Electra told him sympathetically.

"I know," he said, "So I've been avoiding Victoria. When she confronted me about that, I explained my problem with what she was doing. So I split us up."

Electra sighed and nodded slowly. Then she said "I wouldn't mind Victoria and Plato being together so much if they weren't deliberately trying to make us jealous!"

"My thoughts exactly," Quaxo said, "What's worse; the Jellicle Ball is only a week away. And I'm without a partner for the Mating Dance."

"Same here," Electra remarked, "I just don't know what to do about this."

Suddenly, they both got the same idea.

Quaxo really liked Electra as a friend. She was definitely the most tomboy-like of all the queen-kits, and she spent as much time with him, Pouncival, and Tumblebrutus as she did with Victoria, Electra, and Jemima. She was also nice, smart, and lots of fun to be around.

Electra always liked Quaxo, as well. His magical abilities impressed her greatly. He was also the most caring of the tom-kits, as well as the friendliest. He was also intelligent and sensitive to other people's feelings. She was almost considered herself to be an admirer.

Quaxo leaned next to her and whispered "Electra, if we're both currently without partners for the Mating Dance, how'd you like to be my partner?"

She giggled and replied "I'd be honored to do it with you, Quaxo. Just the idea of performing the dance with a magical cat has a certain excitement about it."

He smiled at her, saying "Then we'll call it a date."

"Excellent," she grinned.

Now the two of them had a way to get even with their former lovers and perform the mating dance concurrently. Just a few minutes earlier, they were somewhat dreading when the Jellicle Ball would arrive. But now, they were eagerly looking forward to it…

A week later, the Jellicle Ball finally arrived. Everyone had thoroughly prepared themselves for the Tribe's most important tradition.

Quaxo and Electra had both told everyone that they had a new partner for the Mating Dance, but they never specifically told anyone that they would be performing it with each other. They wanted to wait until the dance itself, so that way they could see Victoria and Plato's reactions firsthand.

They all encountered each other several times during the Ball, but kept their minds focused on the singing and dancing. It was not long before they arrived at the all-dancing interval. A lot of professional dancing was exhibited by all the cats.

Soon, they arrived at the Mating Dance. All the cats dropped to the ground with the exception of Victoria and Plato. The pure white queen slowly tentatively approached the ginger and white tom. Both of them were nervous about performing the dance, but they quickly got a little more confident and went through with it. As Plato grabbed onto Victoria by her waist and lifted her into the air, Quaxo and Electra watched them, angering running through their veins.

But they did not let that bother them. Everyone else was pairing up, so they did the same. They first allowed themselves to focus on each other, and then they started to become very excited. Once they were in a complete embrace, the adrenaline started pumping through them.

That's when they realized that they actually wanted to do this. Not just because of their vindictiveness, but because they really liked each other. In fact, at that moment, they felt that this was how it should have been from the beginning.

The two of them were still "going" by the time Victoria and Plato had "finished." Plato happened to look up and see the tuxedo tom and the tortoiseshell together. When he saw that, he was shocked.

"What's wrong?" Victoria asked in concern.

"L-look," he gestured to their right.

Victoria turned and saw what had caught his attention. She was shocked, as well.

Just as they had given their innocence to each other, Quaxo and Electra were in the process of doing the same thing. Except Quaxo and Electra did not watch Victoria and Plato do it. Now, Victoria and Plato could not take their eyes off of them.

After a moment, Plato whispered "Just ignore them. They're trying to get back at us."

Victoria agreed, but she seemed unsure. She shrugged and said "Oh, well, I guess this will all be better after a nap."

By then, everyone else had finished the mating process as well. Now they were preparing to go to sleep for a few hours before completing the rest of the Ball.

Quaxo, Electra, Plato, and Victoria all went to sleep full of pride and satisfaction at what they had done.

When they all woke up hours later, they felt quite the opposite emotions.


	4. Reparations

Once the second half of the all-dancing portion of the Jellicle Ball was over, everyone left the clearing to take a break from all the excitement. Old Deuteronomy was left alone in the clearing to meditate in peace.

Meanwhile, everyone else was talking with some of their friends about all the fun they were having. Victoria and Plato were sitting alone on top of a perch as they watched some of the other kittens congratulate Quaxo and Electra on performing the mating dance together.

"I had no idea that you two would end up together for the dance," said Pouncival, "But I'm happy that neither of you had to go without a partner."

"Umm… thanks, Pounce," Quaxo said gratefully, but with a notable amount of remorse in his voice.

Quaxo was not as enthusiastic as he thought he would have been after the Mating Dance. Neither was Electra. In fact, both of them felt downright miserable, which they did not expect at all. Perhaps it was a trace of guilt from enjoying the mating dance so much that they had temporarily completely forgotten about their previous mates. That was what truly bothered them.

Plato and Victoria, on the other hand, were just shocked. Their malicious plan to scar their former mates had resulted in Quaxo and Electra's vindictive plan, which involved the exact same method: Using each other for revenge.

The main thing that bothered all four of them them was the very thing they had done deliberately and without hesitation that night: They had given their innocence to one of their friends just to get revenge on their past lovers. Up until that point, they had no second thoughts about their intentions. But now, after finally going through with it, they realized just how much they had sacrificed.

But above all, each of them felt as if they betrayed the other three. Each of them had mated with his or her best friend's former lover in order to get back and his or her own former lover. In fact, they felt that "used" was a more appropriate term than "mated with."

Never had they felt so angry at themselves. But instead of beating themselves up over this, they decided to do something about it. They decided to resolve the problem once and for all.

Quaxo and Electra separated from their group and went to talk with Victoria and Plato.

They nervously approached their two friends, unsure about how they would react to seeing them.

"Ummm… hi, guys," said Electra.

Victoria and Plato just stared at the two of them and dully responded "Hi."

"We need to talk," said Quaxo.

"Yes, we do," Plato agreed.

Right on that spot, the four of them made amends right on that spot. They also broke up this phony relationship they had each generated between themselves and the person they mated with.

Plato and Electra made up easily. He promised to arrive on time to their rendezvouses; she promised to keep her distance from Rum Tum Tugger. Once the two of them were satisfied with their plan, they went off to spend some time alone together before the rest of the Ball resumed.

It was a little harder for Quaxo and Victoria to make amends. Quaxo was still hurt by how Victoria went talking about him behind his back, but he could come to forgive her, if she promised never to do it again (unless he approved of it). She assured him that it would never happen again. In turn, Quaxo promised to spend more time with her and to be a little less sensitive to her jokes. He eventually came to find a few of them to be funny, but he still disliked most of them.

Once they agreed to all of this, they rekindled their previous relationship just as Plato and Electra had theirs.

The four of them had each made a promise to their mates that night about their relationship. But there was one vow that they all made to the other three: They would never, ever, EVER use each other for revenge ever again.

Note: I'm sorry if I disappointed some of you with the end of this fanfic; like if it turned out too boring, too dark, or too depressing. Truthfully, I originally was not quite sure how to conclude this, either. So I sorta, kinda improvised. Oh, well. So, that's my take on the Mating Dance sequence. I hope you enjoyed it! (If you didn't, I can't really blame you, though.)


End file.
